Baroness Vere has retained ministerial responsibility for both coach and bus following her reappointment as Under-Secretary of State for Transport despite some reorganisation of portfolios, the Department for Transport (DfT) has confirmed.
Lady Vere was reappointed earlier in September, but the breakdown of new responsibilities was not confirmed at that time and remains absent from the government’s website. She subsequently tweeted that the bus industry remained within her remit. DfT confirmed on 28 September that the coach sector was likewise.
While ministerial continuity in the bus industry has been welcomed by some stakeholders, Lady Vere’s relationship with the coach industry has at times been rocky since March 2020.
In January 2021, she told a Confederation of Passenger Transport gathering that the sector in England had not received sector-specific support during the COVID-19 pandemic because the government viewed most of the services it provides as “non-essential,” a verdict that drew anger in many quarters.
Two months later in front of the Transport Select Committee, she dismissed concerns around potential operator failures, telling members that in such cases other businesses would eventually expand to fill gaps created. That generated further fury.
Lady Vere has also taken a hard line with the coach industry over PSVAR. In a letter to trade body chiefs on 6 July 2021, operators were included in a group of organisations that she said must “focus… on how they can provide services inclusively rather than seeking to avoid their legal obligations.”
Although some of Lady Vere’s comments about coaches have been controversial, at least one operator previously credited her for being well informed about the sector thanks to engagement with trade bodies. Lady Vere also visited Masons Minibus and Coach Hire of Tring in June 2021, a step that was welcomed.
The reorganisation of ministerial responsibilities sees Lady Vere also take on aviation as part of her portfolio in addition to local transport.
